Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns close out preseason on a high note

PHOENIX – As far as dress rehearsals go, the Phoenix Suns could not have looked much better. Of course, considering the opponent, they should’ve looked good. And perhaps needed to.

No one looked better than Devin Booker.

Against the Brisbane Bullets of Australia’s National Basketball League, Booker made five 3-pointers in a 31-point effort to help lead the Suns to a 114-93 win in front of a 8,297 at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Friday.

The Suns finished the preseason 2-3.

Booker, who missed the last game with a right knee contusion/hyperextension, shot 10-of-19 from the field, including 5-of-10 from 3, with five rebounds and six rebounds in 30 minutes.

“I was just getting my wind up. Tried to be super-aggressive tonight, getting ready for Wednesday,” he said, referring to the start of the regular season.

The Suns put the game away early. They outscored the Bullets, 38-12, in the first quarter and upped the lead to as many as 33 in the second quarter.

Alex Len (20 points), Dragan Bender (16) and Tyler Ulis (11) each reached double figures off the bench. Len added four rebounds and a game-high seven blocks, while Bender hits four threes plus grabbed a team-best nine rebounds.

“Dragan was very comfortable,” head coach Earl Watson said. “Alex Len was all over the place in the paint, controlling the rim, blocking shots, finishing dunks. He was just playing the game.

“So, we thought our team was very focused tonight. We got kind of loose in the second half (the Suns were outscored 48-43), but that’s more just mind over matter. We’ll have to clean that up.”

Watson used a nine-man rotation for much of the game.

T.J. Warren did not play. He was sidelined for a third straight game with a low back contusion.

“No concern with T.J. Warren,” Watson said pregame. “He took a hard fall. He actually hit his back first, then he snapped back and hit his head so the initial blow was the lower back so that’s still kind of sore. He practiced (Thursday) and got hit on a screen and he sat out after that. You could tell it was still sore.”

Josh Jackson: The next Kawhi Leonard or Shawn Marion

Preseason or not, Josh Jackson continues to impress.

In 24 minutes, Jackson had nine points, seven rebounds and three assists; though he did commit a team-high four turnovers, all in the third quarter when the entire Suns team got sloppy with the basketball.

And while Watson would not commit to Friday’s lineup of Booker, Jackson, Eric Bledsoe, Marquese Chriss and Tyson Chandler as his Opening Night starting five, that very well may be the case, especially given Warren’s uncertain status.

Jackson’s skill-set and ability to fill the stat sheet has led to some comparing him to San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard, while others see a more closer-to-home similarity, former Suns great Shawn Marion.

“Josh is unique,” Watson said. “His speed is different from Kawhi. His game is different. The way he can defend the ball is different. Kawhi does it with length and size, Josh does it with speed and quickness. His ability to push the ball and pass—Shawn could push the ball and make passes but I think Josh can make more passes in traffic. The rebounding has to be similar. That’s what allowed Shawn to play, in which allowed the Suns at that time to even go small, because of his rebounding.”

Backup point guard: Ulis or James?

Deciding on the starting lineup is not the only question Watson and his coaching staff face ahead of the opener. A backup point guard needs to be determined: Ulis or Mike James.

Experience alone would appear to give the edge to Ulis, who enters his second year after a productive rookie season. James, meanwhile, is a rookie, though in name only. At 27, he has six years on Ulis thanks to a five-year professional career overseas after going undrafted in the 2012 NBA Draft.

Entering Friday, James was the Suns third-leading scorer at 14 points per game.

“It depends on what you want. Either you want a scorer to come off the bench or you want to a guy to get everyone involved. Two different types of players. Both of them serve an amazing purpose and an equal purpose for what we need,” he said. “Let’s see who’s going to be healthy for the first game because it could be a situation where if there’s no T.J. in the regular season, you need more scoring, you might have to look towards Mike.”

Watson, later, opened the door to the possibility of Ulis and James sharing the court.

“We want to look at that but defensively they have to be out there and create havoc in order for that to happen,” he said. “Defensively, we need for them to be more active and see if they can play together and apply pressure on defense and hopefully they can build some chemistry together, but if not, definitely have to choose one.”

FREE THROWS

— Prior to the game, the Suns held a cell phone drive where all fans who donated a functional, used cell phone to benefit local victims of domestic violence received a pair of lower level tickets to the game. The Suns teamed up with the Governor’s Office, Maricopa County, the City of Phoenix and the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence in support of the Paint Phoenix Purple Campaign and National Domestic Awareness Month.

— Next Friday at Talking Stick Resort Arena, the Suns will host a memorial service celebrating the life and legacy of baseball hall of famer and Suns legend Connie Hawkins. The service begins at 12:30 p.m. and is open to the general public. The Suns will honor the passing of “The Hawk” by wearing a special patch on their uniforms throughout the 2017-18 season.

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